GLUG GLUG

In the weeks following California governor Jerry Brown’s historic speech heralding water-use restrictions in the state, aspersion casting has quickly become a full-contact sport in the golden West. The almond farmers—and their gallon-per-nut crop—were the first to draw ire, but it hasn’t stopped there. Big Nut fought back, pointing dehydrated fingers at other water guzzlers. Looking at you, developers. And lentils. And other farmers. Nobody wants this hot potato. (Fun fact: you need 24 gallons of water to produce eight ounces of potato.) Turns out just about every water hog in California is busy shifting blame. Confused as to whom you should hold responsible this week? We did our best to sort it all out.

a) “My fellow growers of other crops calculate that it takes about 168
gallons of water to produce a single watermelon. And 50 gallons for
a cantaloupe. That head of broccoli that you feel good about serving
to your child? Thirty-five gallons. A single ear of corn requires
roughly 40 gallons.” – Brad Gleason, president of West Hill Farm
Services, which manages pistachio and almond orchards, in Los
Angeles
Times
op-ed on March 25, 2015

b) “According to the
Times,
an ounce of peas takes 45 gallons, an ounce of lentils takes 71
gallons, and an ounce of beef takes 106 gallons.” – Almond Hullers
and Processors Association press release, “8 Facts about Almonds,
Agriculture, and the Drought,” April 8, 2015

c) “Actually, almonds use less than 12 percent of irrigated farmland
and about 8 percent of the water going for agricultural use. Put
another way: about 90 percent of irrigated farmland in California
produces other crops.” – Richard Waycott, C.E.O. of the Almond Board
of California, in Sacramento
Bee
op-ed on April 11, 2015

“. . . let me point out that my almond trees are a lot less
permanent than the houses that continue to get built in California
on the same dwindling water supply.” – Gleason, March 25

“. . . looking at the societal value of producing food only by
gallons of water used is silly, if not absurd.” – Gleason, March 25

“We produce something real and healthful that contributes mightily
to the economy of California.” – Gleason, March 25

a) “Do I have to sell my house to set that example, or do I have to
just abolish all my shrubs? I don’t know what to do. I don’t know
how I can reduce my water rate.” – Riverside, California, councilman
Mike Soubirous to reporters from The
Press-Enterprise
and Center from Investigative reporting in an article published on
October 6, 2014. Records showed that Soubirous used more than 1
million gallons of water a year on his one-acre property, while
urging other homeowners to cut back on their water usage.

b) “Some people—believe it or not—don’t know we are in a drought. We
have people that own a home here but aren’t around a lot, so they
could miss a leak.” – George Murdoch, general manager of utilities
in Newport Beach, California, to the Los Angeles
Times
on April 5, 2015

“It would cost a bloody fortune to take out a whole citrus grove…
And oak trees? I can’t even conceive of planting that many. I’m not
quite ready for the Black Forest.” – 18-year Rancho Santa Fe,
California, resident Bibba Winn, 80, when asked by a New York
Times
reporter about the possibility of replacing citrus trees with oaks
in an article published on November 29, 2014

“While the drought is incredibly severe and something we all need to have in the forefront of our mind, it can’t become a canard for
‘let’s not build anything.’” – Santa Monica, California, city
councilmember Gleam Davis while voting to
approve 32-unit development in the city on November 11, 2014

"If cities . . . say we can’t produce affordable housing, the State
will step in to say ‘no, you need to find ways to move those
obstacles and that water drought should not be an obstacle to
housing production.” – Santa Monica mayor Pam O’Connor at November
11
hearing

“In Orange County, resident Mike Bennett said some locals think
twice about curtailing their landscaping because they are concerned
about hurting their property values.” – Los Angeles Times article
published April 5, 2015

“We’ve got a target on our back, and it isn’t fair. . . . In terms
of potable water, parks and golf courses use just 1 percent across
the state.” – Jim Ferrin, a government relations representative
with the California Golf Course Superintendents Association, told
City
Lab
on April 8, 2015

a) “The water used by the two brands in California in a year is
equivalent to the amount used by two average California golf
courses annually. . . . This is less than a fraction of a percent
of the state’s water use.” – Nestlé Water Ltd. spokeswoman Jane
Lazgin to the San Bernardino
Sun
on April 10, 2015

b) “The entire U.S. bottled-water market is about 10 billion gallons
[per year], and Los Angeles goes through that amount of tap water
in less than three weeks.” – Chris Hogan, spokesman for the
International Bottled Water Association, to Southern California
Public
Radio
on September 2, 2014

c) “While responsible management is expected and essential, bottled
water is such a small user that to focus on our industry as a
material concern in water policy debates is misguided.” – Tim
Brown, chairman, president, and C.E.O. of Nestlé Waters North
America, in
statement
on April 10, 2015

“Agriculture has already suffered major cutbacks. . . . A lot of
people are letting their land go fallow. Trees are dying. Farmers
have been hit very hard.” – Gov. Jerry Brown to Los Angeles
Times
columnist George Skelton for April 5, 2015 piece